THAILAND
Floods kill six
Floods in the south have killed at least six people and affected tens of thousands of households, authorities said yesterday. The floods, which began on Friday last week, have hit more than 70,000 homes across the provinces of Satun, Songkhla, Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, regional officials said. Six people including an 89-year-old woman and a toddler were killed in Narathiwat, province Deputy Governor Preecha Nualnoi said. Another person was still missing following days of intense rain, which sparked floodwaters that reached about 3m in height in some places, he said. Local media footage showed streets submerged by the muddy deluge and residents taking refuge on rooftops.
AUSTRALIA
Cocaine found on beaches
Police yesterday said that they were scouring beaches after mysterious packages believed to contain more than 120kg of cocaine washed up over the Christmas period. A first batch of 39 barnacle-encrusted, 1kg bricks of suspected cocaine was discovered on Friday last week near Magenta Beach, north of Sydney, police said. Since then, another 85 packages of the same size had been spotted along about 80km of the New South Wales coastline, state police said. Police urged people to report any suspicious packages, New South Wales Detective Chief Superintendent Jason Weinstein said in a statement. “Detectives and specialist police are currently combing beaches and coastlines for any outstanding packages and working behind the scenes to make sure we find and hold accountable those responsible,” said Weinstein, who is director of the state’s crime command.
CHINA
US labor reporter sanctioned
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday said it had sanctioned Kharon, a US firm founded by former US Department of the Treasury officials that provides data to companies on alleged forced labor in the Xinjiang region to help them comply with US laws. The foreign ministry said it would take “countermeasures” against Kharon and its director of investigations for providing “so-called evidence for America’s illegal sanctions related to Xinjiang.” The Los Angeles-based Kharon said it had no presence in China, so the action was “largely symbolic” and would not impact its operations or ability to service its clients. Kharon said companies depend on its forced labor data to comply with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
JAPAN
Fukushima ruling slashed
The Tokyo High Court on Tuesday ruled that only the operator of the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant had to pay damages to dozens of evacuees, relieving the government of responsibility. Plaintiffs criticized the ruling as belittling their suffering and the severity of the disaster. The court also slashed the amount to half of a lower court’s decision, ordering Tokyo Electric Power Co Holdings (TEPCO) to pay ￥23.5 million (US$164,882) to 44 of the 47 plaintiffs. The ruling backpedaled from an earlier decision in March 2018, when the Tokyo District Court held both the government and TEPCO accountable for the disaster, which the ruling said could have been prevented if they both took better precautionary measures, ordering both to pay ￥59 million in damages. Motomitsu Nakagawa, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said he was infuriated by the high court ruling, which he called a “copy and paste” of an earlier Supreme Court decision relieving the government of responsibility.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
RELEASE: The move follows Washington’s removal of Havana from its list of terrorism sponsors. Most of the inmates were arrested for taking part in anti-government protests Cuba has freed 127 prisoners, including opposition leader Jose Daniel Ferrer, in a landmark deal with departing US President Joe Biden that has led to emotional reunions across the communist island. Ferrer, 54, is the most high-profile of the prisoners that Cuba began freeing on Wednesday after Biden agreed to remove the country from Washington’s list of terrorism sponsors — part of an eleventh-hour bid to cement his legacy before handing power on Monday to US president-elect Donald Trump. “Thank God we have him home,” Nelva Ortega said of her husband, Ferrer, who has been in and out of prison for the
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